“I also think she might be a little interested in me,” Ke Bu said first, breaking the silence. Zhi Li frowned slightly. Ke Bu immediately continued, “But I’m not interested in her that way at all.” Zhi Li still didn’t speak. Ke Bu secretly studied his expression. “Are you angry with me?”
“What did you do wrong that I should be angry with you?”
“You’re not talking and you’re making that face. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking…” Zhi Li suddenly leaned so close that Ke Bu had no choice but to press his back against the wall. Zhi Li lowered his head, his voice so soft it was almost soundless. “Whether I should hide you away.” His right hand slipped beneath Ke Bu’s shirt. “Or leave my mark on your body.”
Ke Bu’s face heated up. He stopped Zhi Li’s hand. “Y-You could at least look at where we are.”
Zhi Li withdrew his hand and patted Ke Bu’s cheek. “I’m extremely unhappy right now.”
“Didn’t you just say you weren’t angry with me?”
“Do those two things conflict?”
“You’re not angry, but you’re still unhappy. How am I supposed to understand that?”
“Understand it however you want. If I let you off too easily, there’ll be a third time.” Zhi Li turned away and started up the stairs. As he walked, he said, “If I don’t leave you a little traumatized, how are you supposed to learn your lesson?”
“That sounds terrifying! What exactly are you planning to do to me?!”
Zhi Li never answered Ke Bu’s question.
Zhang Luo shouted from below, “Ke Bu, can you hurry up? We’re still waiting! What’s there to ask? You’ve only got one option left—wait for death.”
“Stop rushing me!”
After more than twenty minutes of messing around, the group finally left the school. By the time they reached the bus stop, Ke Bu already wanted to go back to the dorm. There weren’t many buses serving Sheng Jie Academy to begin with, and because it was the weekend, the buses were packed with students. At that moment, a van slowly approached them. Gong Zhu suddenly threw himself onto the ground. “Ow!” The van hurriedly stopped. Ying Xiu Jie already looked like a delinquent under normal circumstances, and now he looked even more like a thug as he rested an arm against the driver’s window. “Hey, buddy. You hit my friend. Let us get in, or else…” Isn’t this basically a staged-accident scam plus extortion? Su You Yan pulled Ying Xiu Jie away, took out some money, and spoke simply and directly. “Drive us downtown.” The driver stared blankly for several seconds before finally nodding.
Zhi Li sat in the front passenger seat while everyone else squeezed into the back. The instant Zhang Luo sat down, he announced, “Story time.”
“That was ridiculously sudden!”
“Just sitting here is boring.”
“If you’re bored, jump out.”
“What are you telling this time? Listening to a ghost story in broad daylight has no atmosphere.”
Zhang Luo put on a profoundly mysterious expression. “This time, I’m telling a strange and wondrous story.”
“Where do you even collect this many bizarre stories?”
“I have my sources. Don’t worry about it. Zhi Li, call and ask again. This time I want one male and one female protagonist.”
And so, once again, on the recommendation of an unnamed person, the protagonists were given the names Shan Ju and Wei Ye. Zhang Luo’s mysterious expression remained firmly in place. “I’ll take you all into another strange world. The story is called Through the Conspiracy, I Can’t Bite You.”
“Stop trying to build atmosphere and just start.”
[Shan Ju had a secret. She had fallen in love with a young man five years younger than her. It was a secret she couldn’t tell anyone. If she did, it would hurt her. Society was too powerful, too overwhelming. There was no room for her feelings. As a woman, she wasn’t allowed to like a man. All her life, her family and everyone around her had told her that women could only be with women, while men could only be with men. And so she buried the secret together with her guilt.
Mother Shan sent a photograph to Shan Ju’s phone. “Take a look at this girl. What do you think? You’re not that young anymore. It’s about time you settled down and started a family.”
“Mom, stop worrying about things that don’t concern you. I’ll handle it myself.”
“You say that every time. You’ve been with Xi You and Xiao Jia since you were students. Are you in love with one of them?”
“They’re just friends.”
“I don’t believe that. How can a woman and another woman simply be friends?”
“Fine. Then the three of us are sleeping around together. Happy?” Shan Ju said indifferently, earning an even harsher scolding from Mother Shan. “Listen to the things coming out of a girl’s mouth!”
“All right, all right, Mom. I’ll handle my own business. I’m going to work.” Shan Ju grabbed her bag and opened the door. She left the apartment. Every couple on the street looked so ordinary and normal. Two men walked hand in hand, rings on their ring fingers flashing so brightly they almost hurt Shan Ju’s eyes. How was their love any different from hers? Would everything be solved if she could simply fall in love with a woman instead? Shan Ju raised her eyes and saw Wei Ye. The determination she had just made vanished with a single glance. Everything beautiful about him blocked out the sunlight, casting a shadow across Shan Ju’s vision. She had fallen for someone she wasn’t allowed to love. Shan Ju wanted nothing more than to tear the word gender into pieces.
She started running, under everyone’s eyes and under Wei Ye’s eyes, drawing closer and closer. She rose onto her toes. Just as she was about to kiss Wei Ye, the romantic moment failed to arrive. Wei Ye blocked her mouth and pulled away from her. “Who are you?” “Does it matter who I am?” “If you were kissing somebody else, then no, it really wouldn’t.” Shan Ju smiled brilliantly, exposing one canine tooth. “I’m someone who has a secret crush on you. You can shorten that to ‘lover.’” “ ‘Sex fiend’ sounds more appropriate.” “I’m going to be late for work. Go to school.” Shan Ju ran onto the bus and stuck her head back out the window. “Remember my face properly! I like you, Wei Ye. I really like you!” Everyone on the bus stared fixedly at Shan Ju. She sat down and muttered to herself, “Never seen a woman who likes men before? How ignorant.”
As a lowly little secretary, Shan Ju could responsibly tell everyone that the earth-shattering romances between handsome, dashing bosses and their secretaries in romance dramas and CEO novels were basically impossible. For one thing, finding a handsome, dashing young CEO in the first place was already difficult. With nothing to do at work, Shan Ju scrolled through her phone. None of the newly released movies looked interesting. They were all about home-wreckers and third parties: two men would get married, then another man would appear, and the husband would spend the story wavering back and forth between the two men, unable to choose. Stories about heterosexual romance were rare whether in novels or films. They were practically forbidden. Shan Ju stretched out of boredom. Gu Xi You sent her the address of a café.
An hour later, after finishing work, Shan Ju arrived at the café. While she was there, she also revealed her secret. After speaking to Wei Ye, she had finally confirmed her feelings for him one last time. The elegant and beautiful Gu Xi You repeated the name Shan Ju had just said. “Wei Ye? Don’t tell me the Wei Ye you mean is the Wei Ye in my family.”
“Yes, yes, exactly. Your stepfather’s son—the one who became part of your family after the remarriage. We clearly met once before, but he doesn’t remember me.”
“He’s only eighteen.”
“That’s the wrong way to put it. He’s already eighteen. I can sleep with him without breaking the law.” Shan Ju’s correction earned her an eye roll from Gu Xi You. Song Jia stirred her coffee. “Shan Ju, forget the age issue for now. You know what gender he is, right?”
“Male.”
“You know what gender you are, right?”
“Female.”
“You know what that means, right?” Song Jia looked extremely serious. “It means his thing has to go into your thing. Can you accept that? Can he accept that? His thing is supposed to go into a guy’s ass.” The openness of the topic made the people at the next table glance over, and Song Jia lowered her voice a little.
“How would I know I can’t accept it when I’ve never tried?” Shan Ju wore an ambiguous smile as she stared at her coffee, one fingertip tapping against the cup. “Do you think I’m a pervert? Falling for a man and everything.”
“What are you talking about?” Gu Xi You rested a hand on Shan Ju’s arm to comfort her. “You think we’re suddenly going to start thinking you’re a pervert just because you like men? Don’t overthink it. We’ve always thought you were a pervert.”
“I’ll throw this coffee in your damn face,” Shan Ju cursed.
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